Gabriela Gadea

The Wall Street Journal

2009-12-10T01:34:00.001-08:00

Textbooks are really expensive so when I found out that my mass communications class didn’t need one I was ecstatic. That is until I found out that we had to start reading the newspaper, and not just any newspaper, we had to read The Wall Street Journal. I’d always thought that this was the paper for guys who wore suits and had a stick up their butt. To make sure that we were reading it we were going to be taking biweekly quizzes. My initial excitement quickly dwindled as I came to realize that I had no choice but to read the paper.
No more then two weeks into my subscription did I become conscious that I wasn’t just reading the stories assigned to us. I found myself skimming through the paper and randomly reading stories that I would have never read, even if they were the same articles online. I learned a lot about mass communications by reading the newspaper. I got to see a day by day account of big deals and mergers that media outlets were doing with each other. There was a lot of information on innovative technology that was changing the industries and there were always the ever present articles on the number of businesses going down.
Reading about issues and problems made mass communications real. I remember reading a story on how Ford and Wendy’s were beginning new super expensive ad campaigns and seeing the actual ads that day on TV. When you read from a textbook it gives you facts about the industry and the history behind it. You feel disconnected, s if what happened didn’t affect you greatly. Certain articles that I remember well were the ones that kept mentioning e-books and how they are starting to make an impact this holiday season. I don’t see how a textbook could have foreshadowed all the competition that was going to arise after the release of the Kindle.
From the beginning of the semester my attitude has changed on reading the paper. There is a Chinese proverb that talks about how different the world would be if everyone learned something new everyday just like a child does. Many of us think that we learn something new everyday but we don’t. I would, am, going to continue subscribing to the paper because I feel that I truly learn something new everyday.

The Road

2009-12-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

Whenever I read a book and then watch the film I always fine myself extremely disappointed. I leave the theater and promise myself to watch a movie first and then see the film. The Road put an end to this cycle. Out of all the film adaptations of books I think the road did a wonderful job of telling the full story while at the same time adding beautiful scenes that Cormac McCarthy himself probably wish he had thought of.
The film stayed true to the book. There wasn’t a significant change to the storyline. What I loved the most about the film is that just like in the book there is barely any dialogue at all. It mad the impression on me like Cast Away did. The movie was carried by wonderful actors and an astounding cinematographer. Visually the movie was exquisite. A scene that stayed vividly in my mind was the one when all the trees were falling down. As I was reading those pages I didn’t think about the severity of their predicament. The movie helped me have a greater emotional connection to certain parts that weren’t crystal clear as I was reading.
There were a few differences that I believe added to the story instead of hollywoodafying it. The boy remembering the mother and wearing her cap was a nice emotional touch. Instead of having a baby burned they had what seemed to be a mother and her child being chased by cannibals. Towards the end they find a live beetle instead of the salmon. The biggest change from the book is that they show us that the dog and little boy that the boy sees are in fact real. They show the family that comes to adopt the boy giving the viewers a sense of true closure.
As much as I like the movie the book is hands down my favorite. While the movie is amazing it doesn’t let you digest the many themes and motifs being used. As you read the book you can put in down and really think about all the issues that it arises. Reading it is powerful because to me the written word as a way of affecting the emotions in a way that film can never capture not matter how good of a cast and crew it has.

Magazines and What They (Don’t) Mean To Me

2009-10-18T19:59:00.002-07:00

I often find myself wondering how magazine companies make a profit. I mean every time I go to a supermarket there are racks upon racks of the past months issues. People don’t talk about a great article they’ve read, or even bother to talk about their favorite magazine. That’s when it dawned upon me; most magazines are filled with useless crap.

I don’t buy magazines. I can’t bring myself to shell out four bucks on a booklet filled with ads. Out of forty pages I probably end up reading two, the equivalent of twenty cents. In my head the math doesn’t add up. Why pay for an item that won’t be used? So I stay away from magazines, no matter who is on the cover. I could honestly care less about their life, and I’m pretty sure that anything there is to know about them is on the internet.

Now just because I don’t buy magazines, and I think that the majority of them are a waste of paper, doesn’t mean my eyes don’t scan over them every once in a while. When waiting in line I get to catch up on Oprah’s new struggle. In the doctor’s waiting room I often find myself wondering how messed up my future child is going to be, since parenting magazines only talk about the tribulations of childhood. In my sister’s house I learn from Cosmo all there is to know about being a modern day woman, whatever that is.

So I take bits and pieces from here and there. I haven’t found a magazine that will make me a subscriber for life. I only read them when I am extremely bored and alone. If there ways someone else beside me I’d rather be talking to them. Whoever likes magazines more power to them. One of the pros of magazines is that they give jobs to people, other then that, lets just say that they’re not my cup of tea.